Our Deal

Chapter 36: An Intruder

"I don't give a fuck who you are, you have ten seconds to get out of my house before I put a bullet in you." I warned. 

"You always did have that temper." My older brother Sebastian, said. His voice was forever etched in my mind, and I recognized it in a second. 

"Seb?" I asked in disbelief as the man turned around. I laid my gun on the counter as I rushed to embrace him, and his arms received me with love and nostalgia. 

He held me tightly like he didn't ever want to let go, and neither did I. It had been almost a year without him. 8 months of loneliness, sadness and thinking the worst. 

Once he let me go, I punched his arm. "Where the hell have you been? I was worried sick!" I scolded. 

"We each did what we had to do. The important thing is that I'm here now." He smiled tenderly as he caressed me lovingly. 

"I hate to break up the reunion, but who is this Ava?" Alex asked still gripping the bat tightly. For a moment I had forgotten he was here. 

"Oh, sorry you can put that down now. This is my older brother Sebastian." I explained. 

"A better question would be, who the heck are you?" Seb inquired mistrustingly. 

"Um, this is Alexander, my boyfriend." I spoke coyly. 

"Oh, yeah, you always did have one of those too." He remarked. 

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm right here you know." Alex put the bat down next to my gun. 

"I'm aware." Seb said sarcastically. 

"Be nice," I whispered as I smacked him lightly. 

"It's not my job to be nice, I'm your older brother kiddo." He scruffed my hair and I immediately fixed it.He always did that and it was something I used to hate, but now loved since it had been so long. 

"Um, Alex, could you give us a moment to catch up?" I needed some time alone with Seb. 

"Y-yeah, no problem." He smiled understandingly, and walked upstairs. Once he was out of earshot, I got to say what I truly wanted to.

"How did you even find this place?" I asked in a hushed tone. 

"Mum reached out to me and told me where to find you. At first I doubted it was even her, but she knew what to say so I'd know she was telling me the truth." 

"Do you know anything about Marie?" I whispered. 

"No," he sighed. "W-we parted ways once we reached the states. We thought it was safest to not know where either one was going." 

A million thoughts rushed through my head, but there was one thing I wanted to know the most.

"How are you even alive? We got separated and I saw the building explode with my own two eyes. I thought you were gone. At the very least I thought the agency had gotten to you." My voice was shaky as I bursted with emotion, and wept tears of relief to know that they had survived. 

"We knew the academy like the back of our hands. We escaped through a passage that was under construction at the time. We barely made it out alive."  He recalled as he appeared to be in a trance-like state. 

"Well, I'm just glad you're back." I said as I hugged him again to reassure myself that I wasn't dreaming. 

"Happy to be back, kiddo." He beamed at me, his eyes giving the same warmth as his smile. 

"This is kinda off topic but, what's with Mr.Ava? You know that's not the procedure." He looked at me knowingly. 

"Yeah, but he can be quite insistent. And I like him. A lot." My stare shied away from my elder brother's eyes.  

"Hey, look at me." I did. 

"I'm not saying that you should negate your feelings, or that shouldn't have your fun. I'm just saying that having a relationship is," He winced to make his point, "problematic. Specially for people like us." 

"I know," I rolled my eyes. 

"I don't think you do. This isn't you and Mason, running and hiding around the academy. This is a matter of life and death; you can't drag that kid into this." He reasoned. 

All his points were valid, everything he said was true and it made sense. However, something inside me just wouldn't let Alex go. 

 "I-I know, okay? It's what I've been telling myself for the longest time, but I can't just dispose of him. He has helped me so much, his sister too. They've treated me like family when I had no one. I can't just cut him off, okay!" I all but yelled. 

"Look, whatever your reasons are, you know what I'm telling you to do, is for the best. That kid is not ready to deal with this kind of situation. Do whatever you have to do, but know that if anything happens to him, no one is going to be there to save him." His eyes held certainty and his stern tone told me that he meant what he said. 

Again, he was right and I knew it but I wouldn't tell him that. The wooden flooring creaked and our heads immediately turned to look in the noise's direction. Alex stood by the foot of the stairs, looking like a deer in headlights. He was carrying the backpack I had prepared. Although, he must have added some things, since it looked much more full than when I left it on the floor. 

"I-I'll wait in the car." Was all he said before he bolted out the front door. 

"Wait!" I called out but it was too late. 

"You know I'm right Olivia." Sebastian deadpanned. 

"You should know better than to call me that. I have to go. Make yourself at home, but I gotta fix what you just did." 

*****